The statements come as the remains of the 94-year-old’s three deceased children were reburied at their original resting site following a court order to return them after Mandla Mandela moved the bodies.

It comes as the feud between Nelson Mandela’s family descended into soap opera farce today when his grandson and heir Mandla accused relatives of adultery and milking the fame of the revered anti-apartheid leader.

In a news conference broadcast live on TV that stunned South Africans, Mandla Mandela confirmed rumors that his young son, Zanethemba, was in fact the child of an illicit liaison between his brother Mbuso and Mandla’s now ex-wife Anais Grimaud.

With Nelson Mandela on life-support in a Pretoria hospital, the escalating feud has transfixed and appalled South Africa in equal measure.

“Mbuso impregnated my wife,” Mandla Mandela said in Mvezo, the Eastern Cape village 450 miles)south of Johannesburg where Nelson Mandela was born and where Mandla serves as the formal chief of the clan.

Mandla Mandela, 39, first raised questions about his son’s paternity last year when he split from French-speaking Anais Grimaud, who has since moved back home to the Indian Ocean island of Reunion. He also revealed then that he was unable to have children.

His attempts to get the family to address the questions of Zanethemba’s paternity had been rebuffed in the interests of preserving a semblance of unity in South Africa’s most famous family, Mandla Mandela said.

“This matter has never been discussed by the so-called members of the family who say that they want to ensure there is harmony in this family,” he said, challenging reporters to conduct DNA tests to confirm his allegations.

“The facts are there. You may go and find out, do the necessary tests that are needed,” he said. His brother Mbuso has denied being the father of the child.

Newspapers have plastered “Mandela vs. Mandela” headlines across their front pages and editorials have bemoaned the cruel irony of bitter divisions inside the family of a man lauded the world over as the epitome of reconciliation between races.

The government said that Nelson Mandela remained “critical but stable” after nearly four weeks in hospital.

The sleepy community of Mvezo, set amid the rolling hills of the Eastern Cape, has been at the centre of a vicious dispute that may ultimately determine where South Africa’s first black president will be laid to rest.

Diane is a perfectionist. She enjoys searching the internet for the hottest events from around the world and writing an article about it. The details matter to her, so she makes sure the information is easy to read and understand. She likes traveling and history, especially ancient history. Being a very sociable person she has a blast having barbeque with family and friends.